Ngongotahā Chiefs Rugby League Club has offered Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports its clubrooms to share until a new home for the red and blacks is built. Photo / Supplied
Ngongotahā Chiefs Rugby League Club has offered Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports its clubrooms to share until a new home for the red and blacks is built. Photo / Supplied
Any debate over what is the dominant code – rugby or league – is off the agenda in Rotorua as two established clubs have come together in a show of solidarity during a difficult time.
Ngongotahā Chiefs Rugby League Club has offered Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports its clubrooms to shareas a base after the devastated red and blacks lost their home in a fire last year.
Whakarewarewa’s clubrooms burned to the ground on October 21 following an electrical fault. The club lost trophies, memorabilia, photos, training gear and uniforms.
While teams can still use the Puarenga Park fields, its members have no base.
The official coming together between Ngongotahā Chiefs and Whakarewarewa was marked this week with a whakatau at the Ngongotaha Chiefs clubrooms, based near Neil Hunt Park off Tarawera Rd.
The deal means the clubrooms can be used when Whakarewarewa needs a base for a gathering or when it hosts out-of-town clubs for its premier men’s team home games.
Ngongotahā Chiefs president Paul Nahu said careful planning on the games schedule meant there were no clashes between Whakarewarewa’s home games and their senior teams’ hosting responsibilities.
“It’s about looking after each other. There are strong connections between the two clubs going back 50 years with different families so everyone is quite familiar to us as a club.”
Nahu said it was the right thing for Ngongotahā Chiefs to do.
“Whaka is going through a pretty big maemae [hurt].”
Whakarewarewa president Marty Hatu said the club was grateful to Ngongotahā for opening its doors.
Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports Club on fire on October 21 last year.
Whakarewarewa’s premier men’s games will this season be based on field 2 at Rotorua International Stadium – the area often used for athletics. This weekend, due to Saturday’s Chiefs-Moana Pasifika Super Rugby match at the stadium, Whakarewarewa games against Mt Maunganui will be at Rotorua Boys’ High School. .
Hatu said the club’s rebuild work was in progress.
A whakatau was held to officially mark the coming together of the Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports Club and Ngongotahā Chiefs Rugby League Club. Photo / Supplied
The club was faced with either going through a “like-for-like” rebuild with the insurance company, or getting a payout, doing it themselves and building something bigger and better, Hatu said.
“We want to grow our club in all the activities that we do. The club we had wasn’t fit for purpose any more so now that the opportunity presents itself, we want to make sure we are creating a building that will be future-proofed.”
Whakarewarewa’s clubrooms burned to the ground last October. Photo / Kelly Makiha
He said it had been noticeably harder coming into the rugby season without “having a base to be at”.
“Ladies had to shoot off to the gas station to use the bathrooms, that kind of thing.”
“It is going to test a bit of our grit but I’m excited to see how we are going to pull together ... Sure, we don’t have a club or an income but I like the story, if you know what I mean.”
Whakarewarewa takes out the win 29-25 against Tauranga Sports. Photo / Kelly Makiha
In many ways, 2025 had been a dream year, with the club picking up several regional trophies - including the Baywide Premier Men’s Rugby title and the Baywide Women’s Championship title.
“Coming off our big year, it’s going to be hard to back that up, but I like the challenge.”
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
